


easy to love

by orphan_account



Series: breathe series [2]
Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, M/M, One Shot, Pining, Prequel, Unrequited Love, i just love making me character suffer huh, they get their happy ending i swear, this was supposed to be done two days ago but oh well :/
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25601011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It’s real, once you say it,he thinks.Before this, it was just your little secret, a thing that made you jealous and envious and petty. You say it, and it’s real.or: taeyong and jaehyun's first date.a small 100 follower gift! (well, 104 now)
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong, Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten (Unrequited)
Series: breathe series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819852
Kudos: 14





	easy to love

**Author's Note:**

> thank you all for 104 followers! here's a special treat (if angst can be called a treat)

**tennie**

where are you???? 

i’m outside ur class 

come on you can’t ditch our sushi date >:(

**taeyong**

sorry tennie!

i’ll be out in a sec i gotta go to the bathroom real quick

**tennie**

ew tmi tae

anygay i ran into jaehyun on the way here

he said we’ll be getting free lunch so 🤩

**taeyong**

did he say that or did you pester him till he said yes

**tennie**

what you don’t know won’t hurt you

:P

but hurry up things are getting awkward here with mr. jung jaehyun

_ Ten only calls someone mister when he likes them, _ Taeyong thinks.  _ Why’s he not telling me he likes Jaehyun? _

He’s in the bathroom of his lecture hall, leaning against one of the sinks. His foot taps impatiently on the ground, and his imposing figure (as much as Ten tries to dissuade their fellow freshman that he’s  _ really, really not scary, just seems intimidating at first glance I swear  _ people still seem to regard him with the same air of importance as they had in high school) had already made three people walk in and out. 

He clicks his tongue in annoyance, jealousy burning in his fingers as he types out a response.

**taeyong**

i’ll be there soon

Taeyong slides his phone in his pocket and picks up his backpack, hurrying his way towards the entrance to his classroom. 

When he finally gets there, he catches sight of a brown-haired, tall man ( _ Jung Jaehyun, _ his mind supplies bitterly) putting his arm over Ten’s shoulder in a “friendly” way.

Brown-haired. Tall. ½ of Ten’s perfect man.

“Tae!” Ten calls, blessedly extracting himself from Jaehyun’s arm. (Taeyong wasn’t sure what he would’ve said had he stayed there.) “Come on, I am starving,” Ten pouts and grabs his hand, pulling him back over to where Jaehyun stands.

“Hi! You must be Lee Taeyong,” he says, holding out his hand. Taeyong looks at it before turning to Ten.

“I’m pretty hungry too, we should hurry,” Ten looks between Jaehyun’s outstretched hand and Taeyong’s face with his mouth open. “Stop doing that, it’s a bad habit,” He reaches out and closes Ten’s mouth with his fingers. 

From the corner of his eye he can see Jaehyun as he lets his hand drop. He feels childish glee at the sight.

_ That’s what you get for trying to take my Tennie. _

“Stop babying me, Tae,” Ten whines, dragging him towards his car. Jaehyun follows slowly behind them, a smile smirk on his face.

_ Ugh. _

“I’ll stop when  _ you  _ stop acting like a child,” Tae says. He nudges Ten to give him the keys and settles into the driver’s seat. Ten moves to the passenger side before calling out to Jaehyun.

“You need a ride?” Jaehyun moves his eyes from Ten to Taeyong, who stares, unimpressed, back at him. Taeyong checks that Ten’s not looking at him before mouthing “NO.”

“I’m fine,” he finally says, pulling out his own keys from his pockets. “I’ll have to drive myself back from my job anyway.”

“Alright,” Ten says, getting into the car. Taeyong starts the engine immediately, ready to leave behind Jung Jaehyun already. “We’ll text you when we get there!”

Taeyong wrinkles his nose as Jaehyun smiles and nods in response.  _ He’ll have to work while we eat, right? _

Ten turns up the stereo as they head out of the parking lot, a song by some western singer blaring through the speakers. “So,” he says, putting his feet on the dashboard. “What was that thing between you and Jaehyun?”

“What thing?” Taeyong asks, stopping at an intersection.  _ Did he notice I was jealous? _

“Have you guys, like, fucked or something?” Taeyong steps on the gas pedal a bit too hard when the light turns green, causing them to be pulled backward suddenly. “Jesus, Tae!”

“Sorry,” he says through the resounding honks of other drivers. “Just. What?” His brain is working in overdrive to try and piece together just what Ten had just said.

“Well, you just seemed… ” Ten snaps at the air. “Tense, I guess?”

_ Tense is one way to put it. _

“He just rubs me the wrong way,” Taeyong says instead. Ten hums, pulling out his phone. “How’d you even become friends?”

Ten blushes. “We’re not really… ” he trails off, laughing slightly. He turns away from him to look out the window, but he can still see the red tips of his ears. 

Taeyong’s stomach turns unpleasantly.

“Woah!” Ten’s face smooshes against the glass as Taeyong takes a  _ slightly _ too sharp turn. “What is up with your driving today?”

Taeyong doesn’t answer. He’s too busy trying to stave off the jealousy that swims in his chest.

* * *

The sushi restaurant they arrive at is… 

Well. It’s super fucking fancy. 

“Hot damn,” Ten says, getting out of the car. Taeyong shares the sentiment. Their rundown car (a thing that has certainly seen better days, judging by the… questionable paint job and the small dents that Ten swears _ just gives it character, Tae _ ) stands out in stark contrast to the sleek and elegant sushi place they stand in front of. Taeyong self-consciously tugs at his sweater, a thing he had hastily thrown that morning while he rushed out of his dorm for his 8am class. 

“I told you to wear something nice,” Jung Jaehyun walks towards them from where his car is parked in the employee parking space, and it’s only then that Taeyong realizes that he’s dressed in (what he’s sure is very expensive) dress shirt and slacks. When he reaches where Ten’s still marvelling at the shop he flicks Ten’s forehead teasingly.

Taeyong nearly snears in disgust but catches himself when he sees Ten looking at him. He can’t stop himself from snorting, though.

“Something funny?” Jaehyun quirks an eyebrow pretentiously.

“Nothing,” Taeyong grits out. He links arms with Ten, who’s still looking at him weirdly. “I’m just, uh, hungry.”

“Hangry, I get it,” Jaehyun nods his head sympathetically. Ten can’t stop looking at his lips.

“Let’s go, Tennie,” he says, sugary sweet. All three of them enter the restaurant, with Jaehyun uttering a simple “they’re with me” getting him and Ten a table immediately, causing quite a few judgemental stares from the waiting customers who were there before them.

They follow Jaehyun through the fancy, low-lit rooms, to a private room in the back of the restaurant.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes to take you orders,” Jaehyun says, finally leaving them. The moment his back wasn’t visible, Ten turns to Taeyong.

“I did  _ not _ know this is what he meant by ‘the sushi place I work at,’ oh my god,” he whispers, picking up the paper menus. “I knew he was rich, but like, rich enough to land a job here?” Ten’s mouth opens slightly as he begins to read through the menu. 

“Rich enough?” Taeyong asks. He’s staring at the distracting sheen of Ten’s lips, shiny with the gloss that he had bought him last week. Vanilla, because all the others had been fruit-themed. 

“Don’t you recognize the Jungs?” Ten asks, still perusing the menu, “They’re rich-rich.”

Brown-haired. Tall. Rich. 

“Huh,” he says. They fall silent, the fancy setting they’re in making them hold back from their usual teasing. Taeyong fidgets uncomfortably in his seat, looking around at the intricate bamboo carvings around them. 

“Finished choosing?” Jaehyun appears back in front of them, now wearing a black waist apron and holding a notepad. 

“Uh… ” Ten says, overwhelmed by the price tags on some of the dishes. It was just sushi, right? “What do you recommend?”

“Well,” Jaehyun says, “personally, I think that the - ”

“I’ll just have tuna nigiri,” Taeyong says. Ten shoots him a look when he interrupts Jaehyun, but Jaehyun himself doesn’t even pause. 

“Just that?”

“Just that. I’m not too hungry,” he says. Ten gives him a questionable look, and Tae shrugs his shoulders. 

“You’re  _ always _ hungry, though,” Ten says. 

“Well maybe I’m not hungry right now!” he snaps. Ten jumps a little, surprised at his outburst, and the envious fire in his chest is doused slightly by the sight. “Sorry, I’m just not feeling too good.”

“Ah. Well, you could’ve told me, we didn’t have to go today,” Ten says. His voice is soft and hurt, but it still carries worry in it.

_ You’re too good for me. _

“And what about you, Ten?” Taeyong’s guilt is swallowed up by irritation as he hears Jaehyun interrupt them. 

“Uh, something small and quick to eat, I guess,” he says. 

Jaehyun laughs a little, writing something down on his notepad. “That could technically be anything on our menu, depending on who you ask.”

“Well then, surprise me,” Ten says. “Just no fruit.”

“I should hope there’s not fruit in any of these dishes,” Jaehyun says, causing Ten to giggle and Taeyong to grimace. “I’ll be back with those soon.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Ten asks once Jaehyun leaves. “We can ditch if you feel sick.”

“I’m fine,” he says. “Let’s just eat quickly, yeah?” Ten doesn’t look convinced, but let’s it go for now.

Good. Taeyong doesn’t know if he’ll ever be ready to explain just  _ why _ he feels so nauseous.

They fill the rest of their wait with small talk, Ten carrying most of the conversation. He talks about mundane things, like his roommate’s bad living habits (“Doyoung’s the one who cleans up, though, right?” “That irrelevant Tae, he’s so annoying!”), the homework he has for his lyrical dance class, or the breakfast he had that morning (“I miss my mother’s cooking so much oh my god, I regret anytime I ever skipped a homemade meal to hang out at a restaurant.”)

“Here’s your orders,” Jaehyun says. He’s holding two small trays of sushi, each one arranged with beautifully cut fillets of fish.

“That’s not what we ordered,” Ten says, staring open-mouthed at the tray. 

“You said to surprise you,” Jaehyun says. He sets the trays in front of them, and Taeyong’s stomach growls. Very loudly. Jaehyun laughs. “Got your appetite back?”

For a second, his eyes look kind.

“I know I got you to pay but this is way too much,” Ten says. He’s fiddling with his chopsticks, as though contemplating just digging right in or refusing it outright.

“It’s fine. My parents are filthy rich, and this is barely any of my paycheck,” Jaehyun says. “Call me if you need anything!” And with that, he leaves them alone with two trays of the most expensive food Taeyong has probably laid eyes on.

“So,” Ten says, staring intently at the trays. “Are you gonna… ” he gestures towards the trays with his chopsticks. Taeyong swallows, his jealousy being momentarily subdued by his hunger. 

“Might as well.” Taeyong says. And they dig in.

Once they resurface from their eating coma, Jaehyun comes by to grab their plates.

“I… was not expecting you two to be able to finish these,” he says, staring in wonder at the two empty trays.

“We’re dance majors, we basically live off of as many calories as we can eat,” Taeyong says. He grabs his phone from on top of the table. Ten understands the message and stands up to leave.

“I am stuffed,” Ten says, patting his belly softly. “Thanks again for the meal, Jaehyun,” His voice is soft, bashful, and Taeyong almost regrets eating as much as he did.

“It’s no problem,” He leads them back to the entrance, occasionally greeting a staff member he knows. Taeyong nearly bolts out the door, but Jaehyun stops him. “Uh, Taeyong? Could you maybe… ” he trails off, bringing his hand up to cup his neck.

Ten looks between the two of them, an unreadable expression on his face.

Taeyong doesn’t like that he doesn’t know what he’s feeling.

“We should get going,” he says, grabbing Ten’s hand and grabbing his keys from his back pocket with the other. But Ten pulls away, snatching the keys from Taeyong.

“Ah, don’t worry,” he says, smiling. “I’ll wait in the car.” 

“Ten - ”

“Come out when you’re done!” Ten slinks away to the car with a wink.

_ Great. _

Taeyong stands there for a second, leaning against the wall as he waits for Jaehyun to say… whatever it is he wants to say.

“Ten’s pretty crazy, huh?” Jaehyun says, laughing to himself.

“What’d you want, Jung?” Taeyong asks. If Jaehyun’s surprised by the change of tone or how he addressed him he doesn’t show it. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me sometime.”

* * *

_ This is stupid,  _ Taeyong thinks, staring at his outfit in the mirror. A graphic t-shirt, warm cardigan, and ripped jeans seemed appropriate enough, right? He considers taking it all off and putting on his pajamas and going to bed early instead.

_ Why are you even doing this? _ Taeyong sighs and finally leaves his room. He makes his way out of his dorm house, a few teasing “hot date?”s said his way, and finds himself waiting on the street for one Jung Jaehyun.

_ What the fuck are you doing. You know, you  _ **_know_ ** _ Ten likes Jaehyun. God, what kind of best friend are you? Why did you say yes? You’re just a jealous little -  _

“Taeyong?” He looks up at the sound of his name, said with such gentle excitement and wonder that he feels the same churning in his stomach as whenever Ten gets his heart broken.

Except this time, he’ll be the cause of it. 

“Jaehyun.” Taeyong takes in his date’s ( _ god I really am doing this huh? _ ) outfit - rather than the expensive dress shirt and slack of the day before, he’s dressed in a comfortable sweater and jeans. 

“You look… ” Taeyong raises an eyebrow. “You look amazing.” Jaehyun is blushing, rubbing his neck and smiling lopsidedly. 

The sad thing is, Taeyong understands why Ten fell for Jaehyun. Just like how he understands everything about Ten, he also understands what Ten likes.

Ten likes eccentricity. He likes spontaneity. He thrives to learn more, to become a better person. 

That’s who Taeyong fell in love with, four years ago. 

(Although he didn’t admit it to himself for two years, too afraid of what it meant.)

But Ten’s ideal person? Someone reliable, someone who’s intelligent without being overbearing. Someone who will help him grow better and continue to do so, together.

Taeyong could never be that person.

“Let’s go,” he says, putting his hands in his cardigan pockets. “You’re driving, right?” 

“Actually, I called a cab. Figured it would be easier for you to ditch if I did that.” Jaehyun laughs. Taeyong doesn’t.

* * *

The Thai place Taeyong picked for their date was run by a very… energetic woman. He and Ten discovered the place after Ten started to complain about missing authentic Thai food.

“Nobody does it  _ right _ , Taeyong!” Ten had whined, munching despondent on a french fry. “It’s either too greasy, too peanut-y, or too - ”

“Plain,” Taeyong had said.

They spent the remainder of that week searching and trying out random Thai places in town, before they came across a newly opened one by a recently immigrated Thai woman.

Ten fell in love instantly. And, like always, Taeyong fell right afterwards.

“N’Taeyong!” Soda says, wrapping him up in a hug. Taeyong laughs and pats her back as she releases him. “Who’s this handsome man you’ve brought?” She nudges her elbow against his stomach, and Taeyong grits out a smile.

“Jung Jaehyun. Taeyong insisted that we come here for our first date,” he says, shaking her hand enthusiastically.

“Oh?” she says, less coy than before. “You and N’Ten sure love giving me all the free promotion in the world.”

_ She knows. _

“How couldn’t we?” Taeyong says, guiding them to the table in front of his and Ten’s usual spot. “Your cooking is perfect, ahjumma,” He sits down on the old seat, finding it weird to be sitting with his back away from the wall instead of against it, like it was whenever he went there with Ten.

“Oh, stop, you just want free food,” she teases. 

“I’m sure it’s wonderful if Taeyong likes it,” Jaehyun says, sitting down across from him. Taeyong resists from fake gagging.

“You’re both charmers, I swear,” Soda says. “If N’Ten were here he’d even it out with his teasing at least,”

“Could I have my usual, ahjumma?” he asks, not bothering to look at the menu. Soda nods and turns to Jaehyun.

“Uh, I’ll have the same,” Jaehyun says. Soda nods and leaves them be.

Taeyong sips on his water and taps his foot, looking anywhere but at his “date.”

“Do you and Ten come here often?”

“Mhm.”  _ Maybe I should order something for Tennie. _

“How’d you find this place? I’ve been looking for a nice Thai restaurant for ages.”

“Just… stumbled on it, I guess.”  _ What does Ten even see in Jaehyun? He’s a mediocre conversationalist. _

“So… What’d I even order? You must like it a lot if it’s your regular,”

“Pad see ew,”  _ Tennie loves pad see ew. We used to fight over who got the last bit at his mother’s house.  _

_ I’d always let him win, though. _

“… if you didn’t want to say yes you didn’t have to.” Taeyong’s brought out of his thoughts by the sheer tone of disappointment from Jaehyun.

“Huh?” he says dumbly. Jaehyun is smiling sadly across from him, shoulders hunched slightly and his lip is slightly bitten.

“You’re not listening, are you?” he says. It’s delivered with such a lack of anger or annoyance that Taeyong feels himself being doused in a cold shiver.

“I was - ” He’s cut off by Soda bringing their pad see ews. He nods at her, grateful for the moment to think. He still comes up with nothing.

Jaehyun sighs and picks up his chopsticks. “I know me asking you out was… sudden. But I was hoping you’d be open to the idea regardless,” He starts eating, not giving Taeyong a chance to answer.

His pad see ew doesn’t taste as good as it normally does. 

“I’ll pay for your cab,” Jaehyun says, as they leave the restaurant. Soda seems to have picked up on their energy, waving Jaehyun’s attempts to pay (and subsequently tip) twice the price of the meal. 

“You don’t have to,” Taeyong says. No matter how jealous he was of Jaehyun, he still refused to let him keep just. Doing things for him “Actually, let’s just catch the same cab.”

“Are you sure?” he asks. But the sky is beginning to darken, Taeyong feels shitty for ignoring him, and he just really, really wants to see Ten.

Ten, whose crush he had just gone on a date with.

“Fuck,” Taeyong says, squatting on the ground. He brings his hands to cover his face, his chest constricting. What the fuck had he been thinking? What gave him the right to do that?

_ I’m such a shitty person, jesus. _

“Are you okay?” Jaehyun says. He kneels down next to him, holding up his hands in a vaguely comforting way. “Uh,”

“God, Jaehyun,” he says, voice cracking. “Can you call the cab?” His words are hugged by minor sobs, just enough to pass off as hiccups in any other situation.

Taeyong doesn’t know how long he sits there, listening to Jaehyun as he calls a taxi. The feelings that he had bottled up for years seemed to finally come to a surface, the catalyst to his breakdown being the very man who was whispering soothing things in his ears.

“Are you sure you feel safe enough to get into a car?” Jaehyun asks. Their cab seems to be there, parked on the side of the road, its very presence making Taeyong feel anxious.

“I just wanna go home,” he says. Well, not home, his dorm would never be the comforting presence of his mother and father and his childhood bedroom, but as close as he could get to it. 

He feels relief once more at his decision to not ask to room with Ten.

Jaehyun carefully guides him to the backseat of the cab, his hands gentle and comforting. Taeyong really, really understands why Ten likes him.

He bursts into tears.

“Woah,” Jaehyun says, staring at Taeyong. “It’s okay,” he says, cautiously patting his back. Taeyong cries harder, his sobs becoming wet, dirty things. His breathes come in gasps, followed immediately by more sobs. 

Jaehyun looks lost, and Taeyong feels so, so bad.

“I - ” he stammers out, “I’m so sorry,” Taeyong collapses onto Jaehyun’s shoulder, who immediately wraps his arms around him, squeezing gently.

“Shh,” he whispers into Taeyong hair, “it’s okay, you’re okay,”

“I’m such a shitty person,” he sobs. “I just - You’re the first person Ten’s never told me he liked, you know? And - And I just - ” Their cab driver coughs, just slightly, and Taeyong is reminded that they’re not alone. It makes him sob harder.

“It’s okay,” Jaehyun says again. 

“It’s - it’s  _ not _ okay,” Taeyong’s voice is muffled by Jaehyun’s chest, but the admission that what he was doing was wrong being let out into the world just seemed to make Taeyong want to continue. “I did this to hurt him, you know? Make him realize that liking you was a bad idea,” Taeyong’s eyes don’t seem to have any water left in them, but they’re now sore, and he’s sure he looks horrible.

“He’s just so - we get along so well. He’s been there for me, always helping me make the right decisions, always pushing off creeps and guys who just wanted me for my face. He’s just so - ” Taeyong breaks off.

“You don’t have to - ” 

“I like Ten,” Taeyong says into the safe darkness of Jaehyun’s chest. “I like Ten. Hell, I think I - ” his throat constricts. 

_ It’s real, once you say it, _ he thinks.  _ Before this, it was just your little secret, a thing that made you jealous and envious and petty. You say it, and it’s real.  _

Held in the arms of his best friend’s crush, Taeyong admits what his 14-year-old self couldn’t. 

“I  _ love _ Ten.”

* * *

Jaehyun’s nice enough to even lead Taeyong back to the door of his dorm, patting his back as his sobs slowly pitter out to small sniffles.

“Sorry about this,” Taeyong says, “and, uh, sorry about your shirt,” His head is starting to throb from the sheer amount of emotions in the last hour.

“It’s alright,” Jaehyun says. “We can’t really control our emotions,”

“I’m sorry about the date,” he says. “It was stupid, and petty of me, and it only ended up hurting the both of us.” Jaehyun stares at him, eyes swimming with an emotion he can’t decipher.

“I won’t say it was alright,” he says. Taeyong’s stomach sinks, and he mentally berates himself.  _ He has a right to feel that way, you just lead him along on a little string of your petty wishes.  _ “But it’s understandable, I guess,”

Taeyong’s suddenly reminded of just how perfect Jaehyun had been, as both a date and as the person who he had just poured his whole repressed feelings onto. A gentleman, who asked about Taeyong’s interests, was polite even through the disinterest of his date, and comforted the emotional breakdown of someone he had only really met the day before.

Him and Ten were so similar, almost like two duplicate pieces in a puzzle. That was why Taeyong could never see themselves getting together, no matter how much he tried to envision it in his mind. They both loved too hard and too fast, free with their love until someone trampled all over it.

Someone like Jaehyun, who seemed to hold people’s feelings and wishes like a glass ornament, was the kind of person that they could both fall in love with.

“When this is all over,” Taeyong says, moving to face away from Jaehyun. He fumbles a bit with his keys, jamming it ungracefully into the keyhole. “I mean. When I get over Ten.” The words are said slightly above a whisper, Ten’s name only ghosting his lips. “Could we?” 

“I can’t say I can wait,” Jaehyun says, and Taeyong’s heart plummets. “But if nothing happens… ”

Taeyong opens his door, breathing softly. 

“It would be so easy to fall in love with you, Jaehyun, if I didn’t already love Ten. Just. I need - ”

“You need time.” 

Taeyong closes the door without looking back. 

**Author's Note:**

> dont worry, they get their happy ending. just, one year after this. taeyong finally gets over ten and asks jaehyun on a date to a carnival. they have a cute moment where they kiss on the ferris wheel. it's all very cinematic.
> 
> again, thank you so much for 104 followers ;; sorry that i couldn't get this out on time, but i hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> twitter: [@kunten_au](https://twitter.com/kunten_au)  
> curiouscat: [kunten_au](https://curiouscat.qa/kunten_au)


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